Lead Master Control Room Engineer

Job Description

A pivotal team member involved in the day-to-day Master Control Room (MCR) operation, responsible for overseeing all MCR functions including satellite downlinking, management of IP contribution circuits and preparing contribution feed line-ups for TX, Production and Digital.

They will also stand in for the Operations Supervisor, who are the primary contact for all MCR matters and responsible for ensuring smooth delivery of all receptions across UK and Nordic regions, resolving operational issues, escalation, and follow-up of issues to resolution.

Your Role Accountabilities…
• Oversee all technical operational aspects including:
• line up of incoming video, audio and communication circuits from both Discovery and third-party broadcast production facilities
• Packaging production resources together for ease of use across the company (video, audio, multi-language commentary, IFB, 4-wires, reverse video feeds)
• Satellite downlinking including dish positioning and decoding
• Management of incoming audio circuits and commentary facilities to ensure commentators are assigned to the correct feeds for transmission or production
• Routing and switching of feeds, based on the internal booking systems to Production Control Rooms, Multi-Function Rooms, Voice Over Booths and Live Transmission Suites
• Critical assessment of video and audio contribution feeds
• Proactive monitoring of incoming feeds with rapid action to restore service using pre-defined emergency procedures
• Training team members - ensuring new workflows and systems are fully understood and documented
• Management of IP contribution circuits, including WAN and LAN
• Liaising with third party contribution circuit suppliers, as well as with internal stakeholders
• Trouble-shooting technical issues and escalation of faults to relevant teams, following up to resolution
• Managing the inbuilt system redundancy to ensure that minimum disruption to services is caused by equipment failures
• Manage bookings and resources utilising centralised systems
• Help manage and define technical MCR workflows and systems both legacy and evolving
• Co-ordinate with production departments to enable successful delivery of live content
• Involved in the planning of future operational requirements and events – ensuring handover to wider MCR team
• Writing and colating detailed reports and metrics
• Cover Operations Supervisor duties as and when required - Lead, motivate and organise a team of shift MCR engineers
• Other duties as required

Qualifications & Experience…
• Operational knowledge of MCR technology and workflows including video and audio routing (traditional SDI and IP)
• Fundamental understanding of IT networking infrastructure
• Experience with Broadcast Control Systems, ideally BNCS (using Packaging and direct routing) and Nevion Video IPath
• Experience with a wide range of video standards including HD.
• Understanding of video and audio timing.
• Detailed operational knowledge of tools used to diagnose issues with video and audio feeds, including waveform monitors and audio monitoring units.
• Operational knowledge of professional satellite contribution equipment including dish position controllers, spectrum analysers, transport stream analysers, receivers and decoders.
• Familiarity of a wide range of contribution standards such as J2K and H264.
• An understanding of the requirements of other operational areas including Ingest, Playout and Production facilities
• A proactive approach, determination to achieve the goals of the team and department, able to identify and prioritise problems and offer alternate solutions
• The ability to work well under pressure in a live transmission and production environment
• Maintain and, where required, create operational processes and procedures
• Excellent attention to detail
• Strong team player and solid interpersonal skills

The MCR is operational 24/7/365 and as such, this role is shift work based on a 40 hour working week which will include nights, weekends and public holidays.
Onsite Working - This role is advertised as Onsite, meaning all working hours and days (regardless of shift pattern) will be carried out at the place of work. Subject to any applicable laws, WBD / your Line Manager reserves the right to change this working agreement, where this is essential to business needs and upon reasonable notice to you.

Championing Inclusion at WBD
Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability or any other category protected by law.

If you're a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our accessibility page for instructions to submit your request.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-bxwn8e-3-21-241-17-42 in your application.